Peace, at the grocery store.

I went to the grocery store alone today. After the past few months of always being, um, accompanied, it was a revelation. I could squeeze fruit. I could read labels. I could browse. I meandered, I wandered. It was wonderful.
I was so into my solitude that when I got to the grocery store, I forgot to talk to the clerk and tell her I had brought reusable bags.
"Sorry," I said. "I was so happy to be here alone, without my son, I guess I zoned out."
"How old is he?" she asked.
"Almost two," I said.
"Mine is seven months, and I love bringing him to the grocery store," she said almost smugly.
I couldn't help it - I laughed and laughed, and then did that annoying more-experienced parent thing. "Just wait," I said.

All the News from Lake-Whatever-It's-Called

Well, we took a turn into the dark side this morning. It was Friday, we got a little wild. We did something - illegal. We waded in the lake behind our house.
I'll give you a moment to collect yourselves.
It started out innocently enough. Jack has been woefully neglected since Heidi's surgery. So I decided to take him down to the lake to go swimming. We also took some of Christopher's toys - a dump truck, shovel, bucket. All the things a young boy needs to stay occupied.
Or, at least, it would have been if not for the large, glimmering lake in front of him. After two minutes of watching Jack bound in and out of the lake, fetching sticks and a tennis ball toy, he was screaming to go in. I occupied him with the toys, small stones and hickory nut shells for a few minutes, and of course, throwing all kinds of things for Jack to take out of the lake, but then he wanted in. So I let him walk on the shore, not quite touching the lake. Then, in a moment of what-the-hell, I let him wade right in. And wade in he did - right up to his stomach, trying to shake me off the whole time (didn't work, of course).
Then I looked around, remembered we weren't supposed to be in this lake, didn't see Jack, and started wondering what kind of terrible creepy crawly things there were in this lake. I mean, whales have been spotted in small bodies of water before. So I grabbed the kid and ran.
Well, Christopher didn't approve. He started screaming. I was fighting to get him in the stroller while looking for Jack. It was a miserable walk back home....but a fun few minutes of wading.

The Keymaster

Christopher has fallen in love - with a set of keys. Keys that are magic - they unlock anything, the car, the front door, the toy box....It's really fascinating to watch him with them. His little lower lip juts out as he tries to see if the key can fit into a hole. He concentrates so hard he's squinting. And when he does get the keys to fit into something, he gets so excited and proud that he's beaming.
Well, I have to go look for the keys again. That's the only problem with the keys - they're small and portable and he keeps losing them.

Mess with his schedule at your own risk

The good news is, Heidi is recovering nicely - so nicely, in fact, that she snuck upstairs earlier tonight. I had to carry her back down. Hopefully that scared her enough to keep her from ever doing it again.
We left her for several hours and went to Baltimore today. We ended up spending most of the day in Fells Point - a great area, lots of fun with restaurants to spill beer on oneself in and clothing boutiques in which to buy a new outfit afterward. Good place.
Christopher wasn't so sure, though. He was very very excited about seeing his friend Addy - "Addy! Addy!" was his rallying cry during the preparations for the trip - but he wasn't so happy once we got there and he went through the afternoon without his usual nap. It led to a complete meltdown by the time we got home. But at least I got a new outfit!

Our Poor Heidi

We found out last week that Heidi had a mast cell tumor on her chest. It's a common tumor in dogs, malignant but not always catastrophic. The vet - our new one here in Maryland - suggested "as soon as possible whenever you can as long as it's really really really soon" surgery. At the same appointment, I also asked the vet the fact that Heidi couldn't go 10 feet without deciding to christen some grass. She gave us a prescription for antibiotics for a probably urinary infection, and a surgery date for yesterday to remove the tumor.
By the time yesterday morning rolled around, Heidi's christening habit had added an interested a new feature: she was now peeing blood. We had also noticed a tooth was about to fall out. And her leg, which was operated on four years ago, was bothering her again. The poor dog, age 5, was falling apart.
When I went to pick her up today, she had undergone: x-rays on three parts of her body (bladder, knees, teeth) one tooth removal, dental cleaning, a tumor removal and had about a cup of stones removed from her bladder. And, as the encore, she's going to need more knee surgery.
The worry was amazing, the bill astounding (how do you feel about trade school, Christopher?) but it didn't matter when she bounded out of the vet's office and tried to climb on my lap, despite the stitches that go from her chest to her pelvic bone.
The pictures show the stones (kindly returned to us by the vet), her medications (all four, plus her new special food!) and, of course, Heidi. The extent of the bodywork isn't visible - I'll try to get a picture of that the next time I put the warm, wet washcloth on her wound. (I feel guilty - it's a nice 15-minute break while I sit with her to keep her still.)

Mr. Christopher goes to Washington

It's been a long time since I posted here, and a lot has happened. We moved (twice) had to leave a dog behind (Rory, the badly behaved border collie, is now a country dog in North Carolina) and Christopher and I are staying home together in our townhouse in Maryland.
We went to Washington today to search out the lesser known sites. We've been to The Mall several times and gone in the Natural History Museum, Air and Space, all the usual sites. Today we were going to tackle Capitol Hill. The bookstores, the coffeeshops. Not the tourist sites! The real city!
We never quite made it to The Real City. Instead, we went through National Building Museum - excellent, especially for kids - and then Union Station. Christopher fell asleep, and I started the triumphant march to Capitol Hill and the Bookstore on C between 6th and 7th.
But apparently there are four versions of C street. We never found the right one. After circling the Capitol four times, under the increasingly suspicious glares of Capitol Police, I gave up.
We ended up at the Mall. Botanic Gardens. Christopher loved the Children's Garden, and so did I, but it will still a defeat. But one day, I will find it. The real city.